For Leo Labine, the official NHL rulebook was little more than a list of bad habits to be avoided. An early pioneer of "trash talk," he used every trick, foul or tool available to terrorize and needle his opponents. He had an above-average scoring touch and a ferocious sense of team spirit that was not unlike his spiritual cousin, "Terrible" Ted Lindsay.

After brief stints with the St. Michael's Majors and the Barrie Flyers of the OHA, Labine cracked the Boston Bruins lineup in 1951. After a few trips to the minors, he settled in for the long haul, netting 24 goals in 1955.

The night after Hurricane Hazel swept across the Great Lakes region in 1954, Labine went into Detroit's Olympia Stadium and had a career night. "I had one of my better games," he stated with modesty. "I think I had three goals and three assists. I got five of them in one period! When the reporters wrote about the game the next day, they referred to me as the 'Haileybury Hurricane'."

In 1961, Labine was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he played briefly before heading west to round out his career with the Los Angeles Blades of the WHL in 1967.
Courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame